It’s been several weeks since the last episode of Supernatural, so it was nice to see this one start off with a brief recap. Purgatory, demon tablet, Kevin, Cass, and so on. The last we saw Benny, he killed Martin in self-defense, which drove a deep wedge between Sam and Dean.

Samandriel, or Alfie, was still being tortured. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about an angel giving secrets to demons. I understand that Crowley is willing to do anything and go anywhere to get what he wants, but I thought even an angel could still handle him. With how Alfie was treated this episode made me feel sorry for him though. Alfie was put through so much pain that he was able to cause a bush to practically explode. The demon helping Crowley with the interrogation gets is able to get down to Alfie’s “coding,” which makes Crowley focus on nothing but more torture.

Castiel is back from his little respite. He cures a baby from an aneurysm before Naomi sends him on a mission to save Alfie, making Cass think the idea was his and his alone. I don’t really like the meetings with Naomi with how Castiel forgets her yet remembers the topics discussed, but the ending seems to offer a possible explanation behind this. Knowing he can’t handle angel-defensive demons by himself, Castiel turns to Dean. Castiel is still making his awkward entrances and hilarious conversations. Dean knows they need all they can get to handle Crowley, so they find Kevin so they can make more demon bombs. While Castiel is gathering the material for the demon bombs, Kevin is focused on the half of the demon tablet he has and puts headphones on to drown out Dean. Dean takes the opportunity to stand right behind Kevin talking about how hot Kevin’s mom is, which was pretty hilarious. Castiel grabs Sam on his errand run and Dean couldn’t complain because of what they were up against. It’s always nice to see that the brothers can always put their problems aside when the time calls for it and can still work together.

Sam is given the choice of leaving or staying with Amelia. All I will say about this is Sam choose to stick with Dean and I can only hope there is no more Amelia in future episodes. On the other side, Dean gets a call from Benny that felt a little like a cry for help. Benny seemed okay for now, but it was clear he was struggling with his control. I like how all of Benny’s phone calls are outside in a public place like a park. The entire time he talks to Dean he keeps starring at the people who are all around him. At first, Dean wanted to help Benny, but decided that he could no longer help. I don’t know if it’s because of Sam, the demons, or whatever else it could be, but this decision could have a nasty side effect. Benny seemed like he knew this day was coming, but now he is all alone with no one to turn to.

The raid of the demon stronghold was excellent. Castiel had to wait for Sam and Dean to take care of the anti-angel charms, so he gives Sam his weapon. Demons were being stabbed and blown away. Since Castiel kept saying that they needed everything in their arsenal, I was hoping beyond hope that they would still have Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, from the demon tablet auction episode. Unfortunately it looks like they don’t have the hammer and probably just left it behind after it’s one and only use. Before Alfie could be rescued, Crowley is able to learn that there is an angel tablet. While this news wasn’t too surprising, what was revealed about Naomi is. When Castiel is able to get inside, he started having some sort of mental break down. It seems like he was being affected by Alfie’s painful screams. He begins to see himself being tortured by Naomi in a similar fashion to Alfie’s torture. Castiel is able to save Alfie, who begins to tell Cass things like Naomi is controlling them and he spilled the beans on the angel tablet. Naomi was able to force Cass into killing Alfie and even gave him an explanation to give to the brothers for why he did it. The brothers had to wait before they angel-proofed the room they were in before they felt safe to say “What the hell?” We are starting to learn more about Naomi, and nothing about her seems pleasant.

I normally don’t care about how the camera is handled, but there were some odd shots, such as zooming in on the Impala through a fire. Benny might be falling off the wagon, Crowley is on an angel tablet hunt, Amelia could be out of the picture forever, and Naomi is proving to be a character to watch out for. It makes sense that Amanda Tapping would play a character with more than a desk job, but personally controlling angels? I give Supernatural: “Torn and Frayed” a 9 out of 10

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Supernatural Season 8 – Episode 10 Torn and Frayed

‘Supernatural’ Torn and Frayed – There’s more than just relationships at stake (Photos)

Season 8 has been a great season so far. I almost forgot there was an interesting story because I was getting lost in joy with the side story episodes. The brother’s have had to deal with a fairy, a Knight of-Hell demon, a Jewish golem versus Nazi necromancers, and those were just a part of the side story episodes that avoided the main plot about tablets.

The brothers are settling in to their Dean labeled “Batcave.” Dean is just relishing the moment of having his own room and Sam has over half a dozen books in front of him. When Dean asks what he is studying, Sam simply replies “Everything.” Not short after this they get an unsettling call from Kevin and the brothers are back on a tablet adventure

Kevin is definitely pushing himself too far. Not eating or sleeping well. Passing out and getting nosebleeds. Sam and Dean notice the issue and do their best to talk to Kevin about it, but it was clear that Kevin was still working hard when he called the brothers later with a tip on the demon hound. Ignoring Kevin’s health, for now, it’s nice that he can finally figure out his portion of the tablet. It felt like a typical Winchester challenge when Kevin revealed God’s obstacle course for closing the gate of hell. The challenge consists of three trials. Since the first trail involves killing a hell-hound and bathing in its blood, I can only imagine what the other tasks could entail.

The Cassity family were a typical television version of rich people. From the father’s ten-gallon hat to the spoiled daughter. The best moment that came from them was when the oldest daughter accredited her music to auto-tune. I still wish they were gagged when they were tied up. I think they did a good job in keeping the focus on them when the brothers were trying to determine who made the crossroads deal, although Ellie stood out a little too much the moment she suddenly asked Dean to come by her room for some fun.

How to deal with invisible hell hounds can now be crossed of the list for Sam and Dean. Thankfully, they had the holy oil necessary for creating a lens that allowed them to see the beasts. I’m glad they finally gave the hell hounds a form. Up until now, it was just a special camera trick, terrified looking victims, and some growling that let us know that hell hounds were involved. It’s always pleasing when the brothers obtain a new skill and it seems perfectly understandable. So far the special glasses have only been shown to work on seeing hell hounds. It would be even better if they also help the brothers see demon-possessed humans.

Dean and Sam had a wonderful fight over who would complete the trails. Dean wanted to do it because he sees this as a one way path and he believes Sam still has a chance to live his own life, unlike him. Sam wants to do it so that Dean doesn’t take this as a suicide mission. It was a surprise when Sam was the one to kill the hell-hound. He did tell Dean not to go looking for another hell-hound to kill, but I’ve got a bad feeling that Dean might still try. Another thing that worries me are the two remaining trials. First of all, three trials sounds a little too simple for a reward as great as closing the gates of hell. More trails might appear or the end game of these trials might change. With Kevin struggling so much with half a tablet, I won’t be surprised if there are more twists in these trials. The other issue is that these trials might get religious. There may be some sort of “death of an innocent” or “kill your brother” trial that could push the brothers to their limits. With stories like Abraham order to kill his son or the death of the first-born in Egypt, it wouldn’t be too surprising if something similar ends up on a God-created set of trials.

Another issue Dean and Sam probably need to worry about is Crowley. They just killed his personal hell-hound. Crowley isn’t stupid. He could easily figure out that Sam and Dean might have a reason for doing this and he might want to get involved. Crowley could also take the death of his hound very personally, which could be even more dangerous. As if the brothers don’t have enough problems, Castiel hasn’t been seen since he killed Alfie. He didn’t even appear when a Knight of Hell was on the brothers tail. He is sure to return, but who knows how much help he can be with Naomi playing him like a puppeteer. The brothers may be aware that something is wrong with Castiel right now, but they still don’t know what to do about it.

The Cassity family wasn’t too enjoyable, but for giving us a way to see hell hounds and some great tension between Sam and Dean, I give Supernatural: “Trial and Error” a 9 out of 10